This invention relates to an uncoupling lever for railroad cars, and more particularly, to an improved uncoupling lever assembly especially adapted for use with TTX (or trailer on flat car) type flatcars, end of car and sliding sill cars.
Conventional operating levers for cars equipped with standard draft gear cushioning have usually included a rigid operating rod which neither expands nor contracts, and which accomodates coupler side swing by allowing the handle to float freely relative to the car body. This arrangement is dangerous inasmuch as workers have been pulled between cars by the handle which has been known to unexpectedly swing outwardly of the car body during uncoupling if the coupler happens to swing away from the body bracket.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,554, the present applicant improved upon the prior art type of conventional uncoupling lever assembly by replacing the usual rigid rod with a pair of telescoping bars which were secured in sliding arrangement by a metal channel member welded to one of the bars and through which the other was free to slide. To enable the metal bars to slide against each other, it was the usual practice to grease the mating ends of the respective bars. Although the improved device eliminated the safety hazard created by the floating handle, the additional danger to workers of slipping off the greased portion of the lever while effecting other end-of-car maintenance remained.
There were other problems attendant with conventional assemblies which have persisted despite applicant's improvements as above noted. Because the devices were in constant contact with the elements the ferrous members were prone to rust. More seriously, in cold weather, water in and on the lever assembly would freeze, immobilizing the telescopic parts of the lever and making uncoupling that much more difficult. Force exerted by the freezing water as it expanded within the open parts of the assembly also contributed to the difficulties encountered during winter operation.
In the above mentioned parent application, the applicant has disclosed an uncoupling lever comprising a first handle section for attachment to a bracket affixed to the sill of a railroad car, and a second hook section including a hook or an eye adapted for functional application to the lock lifter of the car coupler. The hook and handle are located at opposite ends of the assembly in the usual manner, each being attached to the remote end of a steel tube or bar. The steel tubes are arranged in parallel sliding arrangement, within respective channels of a bi-channel, polyethylene plastic sleeve. The combined length of the tubes and the sleeve must be at least equal to the distance between the coupler and bracket when those parts are spaced farthest apart due to coupler impact and side-swing. The length of the assembly when both tubes have telescoped into the sleeve is designed to be small enough to accommodate the minimum possible distance between the coupler and the hook bracket. Thus the length of the three parts may vary widely within the set parameters. Preferably, a tri-slide arrangement is provided to permit an extension of eighty and one-half inches and a closure of thirty-seven inches to meet all field conditions for encoupling a freight car.
Still referring to the parent application, the sleeve is fabricated, preferably by extrusion, of ultra high molecular weight (U.H.M.W.) polyethylene, to a configuration containing two channels shaped to conform to the cross-sectional shape of the steel bars or tubes from the ends of which either a hook or a handle is respectively attached. An optional communicating space may be defined in the divider between the channels which has the double advantage of providing a run-off space for water and of allowing the sleeve to be produced by using a smaller quantity of polyethylene. The applicant's use of U.H.M.W. polyethylene for the sleeve solves several of the difficulties inherent in the prior art. Polyethylene is a naturally slippery material and thus has self lubricating characteristics and requires no additional lubrication to enable a metal tube to slide against it. Additionally, the slippery nature of U.H.M.W. polyethylene prevents the adhesion or build up of accumulations of ice. Consequently the three parts can slide freely relative to one another without the application of grease, and unimpeded by the presence of ice during the winter months. Additionally, polyethylene cannot rust, thereby eliminating rust-related difficulties which have been experienced with prior art metallic sleeve constructions.
Applicant's present invention constitutes an improvement over the invention of the parent application, solving major difficulties of the prior art in much the same way while being more easily and thus more inexpensively manufactured.